Inertial currents in the Caspian Sea

We present the first simulation of near‐inertial oscillations in the Caspian Sea. Model amplitude is in good agreement with observations. Annual mean near‐inertial oscillations are found to be up to 14 cm/s with a seasonal maximum in the summer approximately twice as great as in the winter. The energy increases away from the coast at a rate of up to 0.8 cm2 s−2 km−1; the strongest relationship is with distance from the 50 m depth contour. The peak amplitude also occurs later further from the coastline with a delay of the order of 1 day per 100 km distance. These features are consistent with propagating baroclinic and barotropic waves.